Born King | Bill Dogterom

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"Here as in Heaven."

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Ramin Razavi: 00:05

Welcome to The Garden Church Podcast.

Ramin Razavi: 00:15

Well, garden family, we have an incredible honor and privilege today to be a part of sending and blessing our lead pastors, Darren and Alex Rounzen, as they begin a 3 month sabbatical. I wanna first invite up some of the members of our board, Alan and Inessa Friedman. Zach Ernst is also on our board. He's not here today.

Ramin Razavi: 00:34

Come on up. You got it, Alan? Yeah. Yeah. I got it.

Ramin Razavi: 00:37

Sabbatical is something that we believe comes from a place of health and leads to even greater health. So we just wanna say that at the beginning. This is a gift to the Rounds and family. It is a gift to us as a church. And as a church, we believe something very firmly.

Ramin Razavi: 00:51

We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Amen. Jesus Christ builds the church. Amen.

Ramin Razavi: 01:02

But Jesus Christ uses ordinary men and women who have consecrated their lives to him and said that he is our treasure, and he is our reward. And that's what our lead pastors, Alex and Darren Rounds, and have done for over 15 years. It said he is our treasure and he is our reward, and we are giving our lives for the sake of building his church for his glory in the world. And so as a church family, we get to commit a few things to them as they go. We get to be a people who support them as they go.

Ramin Razavi: 01:30

We get to be a people who commit to praying for them as they go. We have the privilege and invitation

Ramin Razavi: 01:35

love of affection, and invitation of loving them as they go with both the love of affection, but also the love of protection, of the unity of the church. And we have the privilege of doing what Paul says in Philippians of not only in their presence, but even more in their absence to continue to follow Jesus and work out our salvation with fear and trembling in the way of Jesus that they have taught and modeled for us. And so those are our commitments to you guys. So come on up, Roundson family. Are you bringing everybody?

Ramin Razavi: 02:03

Let's bring everybody. This is Amos and Ezra Rounds in as well, and we wanna bless and honor you as you begin your sabbatical. But not only begin your sabbatical, we've got one other thing to celebrate today.

Alen Freedman: 02:17

Yeah. In addition to celebrating the sabbatical, of course, this is our 15th anniversary and, in our 8 AM service, we bless them as a community. We, you know, they've just blessed us so much over the last few years, 15 years to be exact. And, so to bless them, we got them a few nights at the montage and we put together a book of, memories of the past 15 years. So, we just love you guys so much and just it's immeasurable the impact that you've had on

Alen Freedman: 02:46

on our lives and our community and we just thank you so much.

Ramin Razavi: 02:48

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Okay.

Darren Rounzoin: 02:53

I wasn't sure if I was gonna get to say, I just wanna say on behalf of our family, we recognize that it is a privilege to get some time away and we're so grateful. So we just wanna say thank you for the opportunity for our family to, just be a family together. We've been doing this for a long time and we it's a really hard thing to leave right now. We're it's gonna be a spiritual discipline to not work and to be, here and we're just grateful. So thank you.

Darren Rounzoin: 03:18

We'll we're excited to come back. So we'll be back.

Ramin Razavi: 03:21

Yeah. And and that is one of the prayers. It's just praying for the grace of the Lord that they would disconnect from the responsibility of the local work, that they would connect deeply with Jesus and with one another, and that as that time progresses, they would begin to imagine the new future and season God has in the ahead for them. So I'd love to invite up our elders who are here and any of our staff members. Roundsons, why don't you guys come into the middle here?

Ramin Razavi: 03:43

We're gonna pray for you and bless you, pastor Bill. Why don't you come as well? Church family, let's stand to our feet as we honor our lead pastors. Go ahead and extend a hand towards them. And then what we like to do here at Garden is just to pray our best prayers all at once together as a chorus of intercession and prayer to Jesus.

Ramin Razavi: 04:02

So let's begin right now offering to Jesus your best prayers on behalf of the Rounds and family that the Lord would bless this time, pour out his spirit, pour out his grace as they go on sabbatical. Go ahead.

Bill Dogterom: 04:35

To you, Lord. Father, we're so grateful for the privilege that's ours to have received the gift that you have given Garden Church in Alex and Derek. We recognize, Paul tells us in Ephesians, that pastors who teach are gifts given by the risen Christ Thank you, Jesus. For the building up of the saints so that they can do, we can do the work of ministry. And I thank you, Lord, for the ways in which Alex and Darren have led us.

Bill Dogterom: 05:05

We couldn't have imagined 15 years ago being here in this moment. And so we are grateful, Lord, that you know how to build your church through our faults and failings as much as through the things that we got right. And I thank you for the ways that they have led us through the mistakes they have made, as well as through the things that they got right, sometimes almost by accident. Yeah. And I pray, oh Lord, that you would fill them afresh with your spirit in this season.

Bill Dogterom: 05:32

We pray for Amos and Ezra. Thank you Lord for the gift of these men who are, loved deeply and truly and passionately by their mom and dad, but by this community as well. And, I pray that they would discover a new sense of family in this next 3 months. That there would be an eruption of playfulness, of joy that is, their strength. And I pray, oh, God, that in the middle of this restoration, that you would teach Darren and Alex how to rest.

Bill Dogterom: 06:04

You know how to do it really well. You know how to Sabbath. You know how to not do anything well. And I pray that they would learn that in Jesus' name and bring that back, to us and help us to learn it. And I do pray for us too, Lord.

Bill Dogterom: 06:21

I pray that this next 3 months, we would, kinda not coast, but that we would continue to trust you for new ground. You're the one who knows how to build the church. We don't. And I pray that in some strange way, the next 3 months will be some of the greatest times the garden has ever had. And that we would be reminded that, you're no the one who builds the church, not us.

Bill Dogterom: 06:46

And you're really, really good at it. And we just wanna amen what you're doing. That's right. So, Lord, we pray that you would bless them and keep them, that you would make your face to shine upon them, that you would be gracious to them, that you

Alen Freedman: 07:00

would bring them

Bill Dogterom: 07:01

to shalom. Yes. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Bill Dogterom: 07:02

Amen.

Ramin Razavi: 07:03

Let's thank the Lord for his goodness. As we move into January, we have got the incredible privilege of having many of our garden friends that are be gonna be coming to minister and to lead during that time. Pastor Bill will be preaching, and it's gonna be an incredible season both for the rounds and for us as a church family. So let's welcome up pastor Bill. He was just up, but he's gonna be preaching today.

Ramin Razavi: 07:30

Thank you.

Bill Dogterom: 07:34

Well, good morning. Good morning. It's good to be with you today and to, kinda turn the corner. We've been in, Revelation, for the last several weeks, and, I was I was I was trying to figure out how to get to Christmas from Revelation. But it turned out that it's not that hard.

Bill Dogterom: 07:58

In fact, as you may know, we're in the 4th Sunday of Advent, This season of deliberate slowing with intention and attention, to what's happening, and our modern Advent, to the degree to which we even practice it anymore, has gotten hijacked by, a variety of things, most of which though focus towards the First Coming of Jesus, towards Christmas, towards incarnation. But when Advent was first introduced to the Church, it was not about the First Coming of Jesus. It was about the Second Coming of Jesus, because the First Coming is promise, for which the Second Coming is fulfillment and so, we have been in the last several weeks in this Apocalyptic Advent season, where we have been using looking at these grotesque and fantastic images from the book of Revelation, where John is seeing the the the Advent preparation for, the second coming of of Jesus. And it is for that reason that I'm grateful, to be able to kinda look at this story, through a slightly different lens, a a different character. You'll never find the guy we'll talk about today around the Christmas Crasias, the nativity scenes.

Bill Dogterom: 09:27

Herod never shows up for some reason around the nativity scene, but he is a pivotal point and principally because I'm gonna argue this morning, see if you agree with me when I'm done. That Herod, amongst all of the players in in in the drama of Christmas, Herod may have been the only one who really understood what was going on. Because he understood when there is a king born, all other kingdoms are going down. Yep. And that is challenging when you happen to be the king of a kingdom.

Bill Dogterom: 10:04

Can I get a witness? In fact, as as I've been working on this this past week, I've had, few occasions where I've just had to flatten myself before the lord and say, your kingdom come, your will be done, not mine. Because when Jesus is king, I'm not. And that's a hard that's that's a hard turn, for us in in in all kinds of ways because we figured out how to get stuff done, and, I'm sure he'd be happy to take us on advisement, but at this stage of the game, the the the the challenge is he seems to insist on doing kingdom his own way and we see very strongly played out in this text this morning, the the contrast, the difference. In fact, the event that we are looking at today is already seen for us.

Bill Dogterom: 10:57

We've been looking at it in Revelation chapter 12 of this this vision that John saw when he looked to the stars, when he looked to the heavens and saw the stars, a woman with a crown of 12 stars, ready to give birth and a dragon waiting for that offspring to be born so that he, recognizing the threat of that offspring, could could could could eliminate the threat, in the moment of its of his birth. And of course, we know from the story in Revelation, which by the way is telling this story that we'll look at today. So, John is in in 50 years later, retrospectively looking back at this event in his vision. And we recognize the sun was caught up through death to the throne and, so the serpent who has been, by the way, doing the same thing since the get go. It's the same dragon who's the serpent in Genesis chapter 3, who wants to thwart God's purposes 10 seconds after were born into the Garden of Eden.

Bill Dogterom: 12:12

Just get us heading into a different direct. He does the same thing with the people of Israel. As they are are are birthed out of the womb of Egypt, through the waters of the Red Sea, they're barely, they're still wet behind the ears. As Amalek, this fearsome enemy, comes against them seeking to destroy them. So, the dragon has been roaring.

Bill Dogterom: 12:38

The dragon has been slashing his tail for a long time and when he fails at his primary mission, that is to destroy the child, he goes after the people of the child. He goes after the the Church. He goes after Israel in that particular instance. He goes after those who have aligned and ordered their life around the following of that child of that of that king. So Matthew, whose gospel we'll look at this morning, has been telling us from the get go, from the very beginning, that a king is being born.

Bill Dogterom: 13:14

And it and and it's a king, he uses familiar, language that the people of his time reading his gospel would have recognized. He starts off with this long boring list of names. Fourteen names in 3 groups. Fourteen threes. And and part of what he's doing is very intentional, very deliberate because 14 is the Hebrew numerology that points to David.

Bill Dogterom: 13:42

David is the and now we have a 3 fold, a perfect David because the first one wasn't, But now we are anticipating, and at the end of these 3 fourteens, is a is a king like David, but who threefold will get it right this time? So by the time we are halfway through the first chapter of Matthew, we already know what's going on. And included in those lists of 14 are are are gentiles, are those that Israel has been told to eliminate, are are women who have shady shady ladies? I mean, they're there. They're there.

Bill Dogterom: 14:22

And and and and why are they there? Because this king embraces them as part of his story as well as all of those who think they got it right. So, this King is going to be very different from the get go, than all Kings who have come before him and I will argue all Kings who come after them, who learn as Herod did, that the only way to secure your monarchy is with brute force and power. And, Jesus secures his throne with surrender and service and sacrifice and then he looks at the followers of the king and says now y'all Follow me. Don't follow them Follow me And, Herod understood this.

Bill Dogterom: 15:15

No. I'm not gonna roll the dice on that. That that's that's kinda for me. Here's the story. Verse 1, chapter 2.

Bill Dogterom: 15:24

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the time of King Herod. And so Magi, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, where's the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. So he had called together the people's chief priests and teachers of the law.

Bill Dogterom: 16:01

He asked them where the Messiah was to be born. In Bethlehem, in Judea they replied. This is what the Prophet has written, you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are by no means the least among all of the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. So Herod called the Magi secretly, found out from them the exact moment the star had appeared and then sent them to Jerusalem saying, Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me so that I too may come and worship him.

Bill Dogterom: 16:46

And after they had heard the King, they went on their way and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. Coming to the house they saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures, presented him with gifts of Gold and Frankincense and Myrrh and having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. So once again, I'm gonna suggest to you that of all of the players in this drama, in this grand narrative, Herod was one of the only ones who fully understood what was going on and acted in accordance with that.

Bill Dogterom: 17:47

Everybody else has bits and pieces of the picture, but Herod understands when a king is born, a king who has been appointed is not long for his position. And, here, the story begins as Jesus, is born and and and the Magi, the wise men, the trained in the wisdom of the ancient Near Eastern world, a lot of which was anchored in the study of the stars, astrology. They recognized a star had appeared at a particular time and and place. And I think it's probably worth noting here that astrology in the ancient near eastern world is very different than in astrology in ours. The zodiac is largely the same, but the use to which it is put is radically different.

Bill Dogterom: 18:36

For us, our little star scrolls, and our little newspaper horoscopes, and our little daily reminders of how you should act and behave. Notice what we're trying to do. We're taking the language of the stars intended to declare the glory of God, and turn it into a way of predicting how we should act or behave in the day. That's typical us. We babbleize everything.

Bill Dogterom: 19:01

Right? Trying to take what God has intended to reveal himself to use for our own benefit and and, but these guys, these are the wise men, and they are using, I mean you look at these synagogues in the ancient world, especially around the Qumran community, Dead Sea, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. On the mosaics of the floors of all of the synagogues is the zodiac. Why? Because the heavens declare the glory of god.

Bill Dogterom: 19:28

Where else would you put it? They don't go to the stars to seek their future. They go to the stars to see what god is saying about himself. They go to the the stars to see what how God might be revealing himself. So when they see this star appear, and in fact, there's there's enough evidence to suggest the constellation of events that occurred.

Bill Dogterom: 19:50

And please notice, John in Revelation chapter 12 is seeing the same kinds of things. He's looking to the heavens. He's seeing the stars and recognizes this constellation of of of alignment of Jupiter and and Regulus and, Leo, the lion and Virgo, the virgin with the 12 starred crown. They're all up there for anybody who's paying attention. As it turns out, Jesus God rather is is multilingual.

Bill Dogterom: 20:25

He can speak the language of the stars if that's what it been takes to get through to people who have learned the language of does this mean we need to form our own Christian astrological no. Because it would be 3 seconds before we try and hijack that sucker for our own good. But if you can see the stars and they're the one to whom they point, study the life into and out of the stars. Right? So John, Matthew is reporting these 3 wise men are seeing these stars in alignment.

Bill Dogterom: 21:01

They this moment occurs and they set off. They recognize something significant has happened as as a king has been born in Judah. And they begin a journey that takes them the better part of 2 years, because of the magnitude of this event in their understanding. And when they finally get to Judah, they come, as one does when you're looking for a king, to the palace. They come to Herod's palace and ask an awkward question.

Bill Dogterom: 21:40

Where is he who is born King of the Jews? Which is enough to make the foundations of one who has been appointed King of the Jews very nervous. He was disturbed and it says, all of his court, all of Washington with him were disturbed. They were vibrating with this awareness because Herod has gotten to be King of Jer Israel by typical means, by the edge of the sword, by by by by craftiness, by statecraft. He's he's killed sometime killed his own children and and his brother, and he has done a deal with Rome, to to to exercise authority in Rome.

Bill Dogterom: 22:35

It's a it's a delicate dance that he plays, but he's Herod, as you'll know, I mean there's 3 generations of them that we deal with in the New Testament. He's really good at the old way of staying with He's really good at the old way of statecraft that is executed by means of the sword. And of course, that plays itself out here a little bit later on in the story. So he is he is anxious about this. And please notice, he he knows enough of Jewish tradition in history.

Bill Dogterom: 23:04

Herod's not stupid. He's wily. He's crafty. He's not stoop not wise, but he's not stupid either. So when these guys come and ask about 1 born king, Herod does the math.

Bill Dogterom: 23:18

He recognizes from his study of the Old Testament, his awareness of the Old Testament, that the one born of the King next on the agenda is going to be the Messiah. And so he secretly goes and just says, hey guys, I've just been thinking about this. You priests, you you scholars, can you help me out here? Just remind me again. Where where where is messiah gonna be born?

Bill Dogterom: 23:45

Just working on some stuff and be nice to know, you know. He keeps these two parties apart. The wise men never talk to the priests and the priests, so so they're they're honored that King Herod would seek their wisdom on this and so they'd blurred out the right answer, sort of. They say, well the prophet says he's gonna be born in Bethlehem, the the greatest of all of the cities in Judah. And here's where they get it wrong, because if you look at the passage of scripture, from which they are quoting in Micah, Micah says, Bethlehem is the least of all of the cities in Jerusalem, in in Judah rather.

Bill Dogterom: 24:27

So notice what they have done inadvertently, and Matthew, I think, with this twinkle in his eye, tweaks the Old Testament quote, because now this is the greatest city, not just in Judah, but in the world. For this is the city, the portal through which Messiah, not just Israel's Messiah, but the King of the world has come. The greatest of all of the cities. So Matthew is just kind of flashing the lights for anybody who's paying attention. Notice what's happening here.

Bill Dogterom: 24:59

Something supernatural is occurring. You don't wanna miss it. You don't wanna miss it. Here these wise guys who have have have have have studied the stars and have learned the language, who are experts in the language, and I think it's worth saying that God knows how to speak the language of those who seek him. God knows the language.

Bill Dogterom: 25:22

He knows how to speak the language of Science for the scientist to speak seeking him. He knows how to speak the language of Evolution, for the Evolutionist who seeking him. He knows how to communicate his heart and his way and his character for any who are searching. This is the nature of our God. He doesn't wait for us to come to him.

Bill Dogterom: 25:43

He is already on the move toward us with our language, with our heart language. And here, these wise men are no exception. They know the language of the stars and are studying, trying to figure out what God is saying about himself. And when they see the star, they begin the journey that last please let can I just I don't know? 2 years, they are on journey.

Bill Dogterom: 26:10

Why? Because they saw a star in the sky and it billboded. A King is born, not just for Judah, but by virtue of the alignment of the constellations for the world. And their response is not to come. You'll notice what they said.

Bill Dogterom: 26:27

We want to come in worship. Their response is not simply to salute the statecraft of this new king and and and pay homage, if you will, to this new king. They wanna come and worship. They recognize something is different about this King than any other King that they have ever known anything about. They wanna come and worship.

Bill Dogterom: 26:49

So, Herod still playing the game, keeps the wise men and the scribes separated from one another. He takes the message of the scribes, the high priest, and he goes and says to the wise men, well I we think Jerusalem, no. Maybe no. Bethlehem. Couple miles down the road.

Bill Dogterom: 27:09

Really close. Just a couple miles down the road. So y'all head out there and and as soon as you find out where he is, y'all come back. Let me know, so I can go and worship too These are wise men They recognize that Harrods like he always does playing a cards of desperation They know what's that they know what's what they know what's up Right, they know they know that that's cap Right That's a lie That's a lie And and and and and so and so they they head out to town and and as they get going, right, look it up, Google it. Okay.

Bill Dogterom: 28:04

So so so they're heading out. Right? They're going down the road. They're going down the road towards towards Bethlehem. The star reappears, and they come.

Bill Dogterom: 28:12

And here's what's astonishing to to me. When they heard the king, they went on their way. The star led them and it came over. Did you catch this? The house where the child was.

Bill Dogterom: 28:29

This is no longer the baby in the manger. This is a toddler running around. This is, this is a kid who scraped his knees. Who's got a bang on his head from when he stood up under the table too fast. Who's got, just the tip of his pinky sliced off in Joseph's workshop this is this is this is king Because faith does not see what it sees.

Bill Dogterom: 29:04

Faith stands in the reality of what it is, and sees filtered through that lens. So, they come into this toddler's house and you can see him peeking out from behind his mom. Where's Joseph? He's not even in Mary. Is Joseph is getting bagels or something.

Bill Dogterom: 29:27

I don't know where he is, but he's not there. And Jesus and his mom are playing kinda hide and seek with these august wise men who have come in and and and and and their response to this is to bow down and worship. Now, Mary's heard some things in her day. Actually, she may have thought all that was behind her. Maybe a a memory is like, what was that about?

Bill Dogterom: 29:58

The shepherds and the angel and she's like, whatever. Because this is he's not glowing and he poops like every other 2 year old. I is there's no nothing that that suggests he's the Messiah and here are these guys again coming in 2 years after the fact. He's he's he's the one and bringing gifts that leaves Mary's jaw bouncing off the floor. Gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Bill Dogterom: 30:36

Gold, the sign, the symbol of of of royalty of the palace. Frankincense, the sign, the symbol of priesthood. He is not a king like Herod is, he is holy, but also myrrh. The spice used to embalm. It's an entry into bitterness, an entry into loss, an entry into the horror of death used in incense, you but also used in the embalming of of of the dead.

Bill Dogterom: 31:17

And these are the gifts they bring. And Mary, undoubtedly, receives them with You know how you're gonna get some gifts? That when you open them, you're gonna look at them like, thank thank you? What am I what am I supposed to do with it? Oh, an exercise regimen.

Bill Dogterom: 31:45

What are you what are you actually saying? Well, this I I I I think this is is one of those moments, because because here he is. Like I said, he's not glowing. He's not floating 3 inches above the ground. He looks like every other toddler that is playing around, and these guys, these wise men are worshiping.

Bill Dogterom: 32:08

Why why, by the way? Because that's what wisdom does. Wisdom worships. Wisdom isn't content with just knowing stuff. Wisdom worships.

Bill Dogterom: 32:20

That's how you can tell by the way that it's true wisdom. Wisdom, James, little Jesus' little brother is gonna tell us wisdom from below. Yeah. Not so much. Wisdom from below is nefarious.

Bill Dogterom: 32:32

Wisdom from below is crafty and calculating and deceitful. It's gonna try and secure its position. It's gonna try and manipulate outcomes. But wisdom from above, peaceable, joyful, shalom producing. Right?

Bill Dogterom: 32:48

So that wisdom from above, from the heavens, it comes to worship. It comes to worship. And and and so as they come, they bring this and by the way notice the awkwardness of their work. Yes, they celebrate King Jesus, all hail, King Jesus, but they worship the Holy Christ, who has come to enter fully into our pain, into our pain, into our devastating losses. Is what what am I to do with this?

Bill Dogterom: 33:28

And if I could I just say Mary you'll find plenty of use for myrrh, for the bittersweetness in fact remember that old guy in the temple With the sword that says this boy is gonna pierce your sword soul with the sword. Yeah. You'll have use for the Myrrh. It's an indicator of who he is. It's a prophetic statement of his entry into brokenness.

Bill Dogterom: 33:58

His entry into the into the gateways of loss and death because the only way to come to the life that he promises and brings is through the gateway of dying. I've said it before, Jesus did not come to die so that we wouldn't have to, but so that we would know how to. There's myrrh under the tree for every one of us. There is loss and suffering. You will discover about Jesus things that in suffering and pain and loss that you will never learn any other way.

Bill Dogterom: 34:37

So put it on the shelf with the rest of the gifts. It'll come in handy. And we celebrate the wonder of his his his coming, the royalty, the worship of of of of of him as as as holy, but also we embrace the the full entry into loss and death that he signifies. And then I love this next part. They have been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and so they went home by another way.

Bill Dogterom: 35:19

Can you guess why I love that? That's what happens every time you run into Jesus. You go home by another way. Your life is redirected. Jesus isn't a signpost on your otherwise perfectly straight path to bliss.

Bill Dogterom: 35:36

Jesus is a crossroads that says, y'all, follow me or die, and he's that blunt about it. Now the door is open. Yeah. You can choose to go home by another way. I love how the angel knows enough or the dreamer knows enough to recognize the game that Herod is playing and not to be complicit in it.

Bill Dogterom: 36:05

Not to be not to be, joining in the crazy that is Herod. Not to join into a monarchy that is established and maintained by the sword. Because, unfortunately, that is what is going to happen. When Herod learns that the wise men have outsmarted him, his response is to send the troops into Bethlehem where he executes every male child under the age of 2 years old. This is what happens when your fear driven monarchy is threatened.

Bill Dogterom: 36:42

That's how you can tell, by the way, a godly leader from one who is not. A godly leader comes to serve. He's going to be the shepherd of the house of Israel. An ungodly leader decimates all his opponents by whatever means possible. If he's got the sword, he'll use the sword.

Bill Dogterom: 37:00

If he has Instagram or X, he'll use Instagram and X to devastate opponents. That's how the insecure, ego driven monarchs rule. But you can go home by another way because you're a king too. How are you going to submit your kingdom, the sphere of influence that you have to this boy, this tiny baby born to die, that you might join him in life. Those are the responses of wisdom, and those are the ones that we invite you to this morning.

Bill Dogterom: 37:50

Come and worship. Let your wisdom, your knowing of who he is, bring you to high praise, but then also go home by another way. Don't live as if the king had not come. Don't live in any way other than by faith, regardless of what you see in the in in in the moments in between. The king has come.

Bill Dogterom: 38:17

Let's pray. Oh, lord, as we sit with this, challenging passage and and the story that kinda reorients us, we we are we are, brought up short, at least I am, by by how how often I I struggle with exactly this point, with letting letting you be lord, letting you be king. And, I want I wanna be a worshiper, not so that you would be complicit in my crazy, but so that even my crazy would be laid down in surrender and submission to your monarchy. I pray, oh, lord, for us as a community. I pray for us as individuals that you would help us in this season of surrender to remember Christ has come.

Bill Dogterom: 39:11

Christ has come. We are now never alone. Help us to walk a new way in the light of that reality. In Jesus. Amen.

Ramin Razavi: 39:26

Thank you for listening. For more information, please visit garden.church.